Two rival crime bosses fight for dominance on the streets of South Africa’s capital city.

The prologue sets the scene as the mutilated corpse of a young woman rises and sets off on a dark quest for vengeance. While on a night out with friends, Angela meets Andre and is persuaded to go home with him. Only she isn’t going to Andre’s home. Andre is a junkie who will do anything for his next fix and that includes supplying girls for the worst kind of depravity. Angela is tortured viciously and murdered, what’s left of her wrapped in plastic bags and dumped. Angela finds herself in some sort of limbo, dead yet determined to make those responsible pay.

A cold wind brushed her cheek. Her fingertips touched the loose ground, and fumbled in the dark, clawing at the cold earth beneath her. She touched something hard and rough, a rock, but it was real, something she could hold on to. She gripped it tight. The knowledge and memories of her short life came flooding back. She stood up and realised she was naked. Her feet and hands were gone. Blood covered her ruined body.

For all this is very disturbing and chilling (I did struggle a little with the beginning) I still found myself caught up in the narrative. There’s a lot more to the story than torture and bloodshed. When Andre supplies another young woman, Alice, the dynamics have changed and she has a chance, if she can bring herself to take it. It’s a harrowing and tense tale, probably not for those of a squeamish or nervous disposition, and there are adult themes running throughout. The story veers into darkness and more violence as Angela goes on a rampage, wreaking havoc with her murderous payback, while Alice is caught in the middle of an epic supernatural battle with nowhere to run.

I enjoyed the setting and societal glimpses. The characters are depicted extremely well, ranging from very scary through to pitiful, including loathsome and lots in between. Not much, if anything, is held back and I’m glad I read this in the daylight. There’s a great twist in the tale that I didn’t see coming and which makes Angela’s ordeal all the more horrifying. If you like well written, full on horror, with substantial amounts of gore, this is for you.

About Joan De La Haye

I write horror and some very dark thrillers. So I invariably wake up in the middle of the night, because I’ve figured out yet another twisted way to mess with my already screwed up characters.I’m interested in some weird stuff. That’s probably also one of the reasons I write horror.I’m deep, dark and seriously twisted.

Reading Challenge 2015

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